CEBU CITY – The national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) led by Health Secretary Francisco Duque stood firm on the travel protocols imposed in the country.
Duque’s group met provincial government officials headed by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and lawmakers after Cebu eased its health protocols on returning Filipino workers (OFWs).
Garcia insisted on Cebu’s health protocols and local ordinances, saying they managed to slow the spread of Covid-19 in the province.
The IATF-MEID presented a panel of medical experts headed by Dr. Edsel Salvana, a molecular epidemiologist from the University of the Philippines, who said that the swab upon arrival method in detecting Covid-19 in arriving OFWs and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) poses the risk of having false negative RT-PCR test results.
Salvana strongly defended the IATF-MEID protocols on all arriving OFWs or ROFs which mandates 10-day quarantine in a facility and 4 days at home and a mandatory RT-PCR test on the 7th day.
“Why are we doing this? Because we know that SARS-COV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) can incubate for as long as 14 days. Meaning, if you are infected in transit, it takes up to 14 days before symptoms can manifest,” he explained.
Salvana clarified that the IATF-MEID has no objection to the swab upon arrival policy in Cebu, stressing that if proper quarantine is done, it prevents transmission of Covid-19; however, he cited Taiwan's case where a surge in new infections was attributed to the shortened quarantine period for pilots and flight crew from 5 days to three days.
Also present during the special session were National Task Force against Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, IATF-Visayas chief implementer Melquiades Feliciano and DOH-7 chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Loreche.
Indian variant
Salvana also warned the Cebuanos about the presence in the country of the Delta or Indian variant of Covid-19, which is 60% more transmissible than the Alpha or U.K. variant, with a shorter incubation period. “When Alpha variant is 60 percent more transmissible than the original variant, it means that (the transmissibility of) the virus has levelled up,” he pointed out.
He told the Provincial Board members and other officials present that a Delta variant-positive individual can infect as many as five to eight persons. The country, he noted, now has 17 active cases of this variant.
Quarantine
Galvez also warned about sending OFWs and ROFs for home quarantine, saying social distancing and other health protocols are difficult to observe while in the house. He said a person tested positive for Covid-19 can easily be isolated from the rest of the people in the community if he is placed in an isolation facility.
But one lawmaker said village Peace Corps, medical and emergency rescue teams, barangay health workers and barangay council members in Cebu are very active in monitoring people who are subject to home quarantine.
Duque said the IATF-MEID quarantine protocols have been followed in all local governments in the country, except for the province of Cebu. “With all due respect to the Governor and officials of the province, the resolution is fair inasmuch as the quarantine period must be for a full 14 days done in government (isolation) facility and the remaining four days is done at home and testing is done on the seventh day. And if negative, he can be properly turned over on the tenth day to the LGU where he resides,” he said.
Duque underscored the support and approval of President Rodrigo Duterte of the IATF protocol.
Nograles praised the provincial government’s successful fight against Covid-19, but reminded the local officials not to be complacent in the fight against pandemic.
Garcia, for her part, stood pat on the protocols being implemented by the provincial government for the arriving OFWs and ROFs at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
She reminded the IATF that her attention was called when she strictly imposed strict border control in February last year even before the start of Covid-19 spike in different places in the country.
Garcia said the provincial ordinance that adapted Executive Order No. 17 on the swab upon arrival rule applies to Cebuanos who are going home from abroad.
“I respectfully inform the good secretary that we have over 2,400 beds for isolation. Practically all of our towns have constructed hygienic isolation centers that can be designated as quarantine facility (for the returning OFWs and ROFs),” Garcia said, adding that town mayors and village chiefs are ready and have made their localities well-equipped in combating Covid-19.
DILG
Duterte has said that Cebu must follow the IATF-MEID guidelines and protocols. He also ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government to look into this.
“So I leave the fate of Governor Garcia sa DILG. There are some mechanics that can be put in action to, well, compel obedience, not because we want to be mas marunong but remember I said, all our decisions are based on what the medical people say, period,” Duterte said. “I see the wisdom in her view but I said the overwhelming notion among us in government and the medical doctors simply do not agree with her.” (By John Rey Saavedra. Carlo Lorenciana, PNA and Cebu Examiner contributed to this report.)
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